Briton shot dead in Israeli raid

Jack Straw demanded a full inquiry last night into the killing of a British UN official who was shot in the back during an Israeli army raid on a Palestinian refugee camp.

The Foreign Secretary telephoned his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, who had "expressed his sincere condolences" to the family of Iain Hook.

Mr Hook, 54, from Felixstowe, Suffolk, was hit as he tried to evacuate his staff from the middle of the army operation to storm the hideout of a wanted Palestinian.

Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, expressed his concern at the refusal of the Israelis to allow an ambulance to reach Mr Hook.

Mr Hook, on secondment from Britain's Development Agency, was project engineer for the UN's Relief and Works Agency, which looks after Palestinian refugees. He was rebuilding the Jenin camp in the West Bank which had been bulldozed by the Israelis.

UNRWA said he was "caught in the crossfire" between the Israeli army and local militants but could not say where the shot came from.

Mr Straw said Mr Netanyahu promised an immediate investigation and undertook to share the results as soon as he had them. "We will do everything possible to ensure that there is a full investigation," added Mr Straw.

Mr Annan released a statement saying: "The secretary general is greatly disturbed that the Israeli defence forces refused immediate access for an ambulance."

Dr Mohammed Abu Ghali, the head of Jenin hospital, said Mr Hook was "hit by two Israeli M-16 bullets".

He said Israel had been barring all ambulances from freely circulating inside the camp. "They could not reach him on time, and he arrived dead at the hospital."